as you can see I am new here. I've got my first camera in 2009 summer, so thats about nine months. Because of the school studies, and other activities, I didn't have much time to practice, but I've read some books, did indoor shooting, and I feel improved from the spot when I grabbed my camera with tears My camera is Canon EOS 450D I think it is OK for a beginner, it has 2 lenses EFS 55-250mm and EFS 18-50, oh and a flash Speedlite 580EX II. It's really hard to pick waht to post here... so, here is some:

1. One of my first flower photo:

2. A nice little couple. Non-edited with any software.

3. My sexy cat the nose is a bit out of focus because there was not much light in the room.

Thank you. Your granddaughters cat is fluffeh and yes, the first one could be in focus, as i recall it there was P setting on my camera, it was the first month with my new toy :] Have you sacrificed a little of your time and saw my other photos on flickr? I really would appreciate some suggestions :]

How did you get this photo so sexy and sharp? My guess is the light of the cars made it look better (Like the metal safety thingies, forgot how are they called :/), am i right? My night photos misses something:

How did you get this photo so sexy and sharp? My guess is the light of the cars made it look better (Like the metal safety thingies, forgot how are they called :/), am i right? My night photos misses something:

A few things that come to mind:
-Tripod
-Low ISO
-Remote release
-Mirror lock-up (not all cameras have this)
-I have read about something called "diffraction" I honestly don't know too much about it, other than after a certain f/stop on some camera lens combos you actually start to lose sharpness. I usually don't worry about it too much, but I didn't need anything more than f/11 so that's what I used for the shots.

Ooooh i think I've discovered the biggest mistake that I have been doing. Just googled the diffraction thing, and found out that largest aperture isn't good. I've almost always used the largest aperture hoping of better quality.